Scouting the Senators

The Caps will be going for a season sweep of the Eastern Conference leading Senators tonight at Verizon Center. Yeah, those Senators, the ones with 11 regulation losses (three to you-know-who) and a conference-best 155 goals.

Ottawa won't have all-star Dany Heatley (separated shoulder), but it does look like the Sens will dress center Jason Soezza (general body soreness ...seriously) and right wing Patrick Eaves, who is set to return from a 24-game layoff due to a shoulder injury.

According to this report in the Ottawa Sun, Ray Emery will start in goal since Martin Gerber has surrendered 10 goals in the last 66 minutes vs. the Caps.

If the Caps win, it will complete their first sweep of the Sens since 1995-96, Ottawa's fourth year in the league. But here's your stat of the day: Since the start of the 2005-06 season, the Caps lead the series 6-5-0, despite trailing Ottawa by 99 points in the standings (75-102-31 to 129-57-22).

Speaking of the Caps, it will be interesting to see which goaltender Bruce Boudreau starts. He hinted on Monday that he was leaning toward Brent Johnson, who was solid in relief of Olie Kolzig in Sunday's 6-4 loss to Philadelphia.

The other thing to keep an eye on is whether Chris Clark tries to play after tweaking his balky groin muscle against the Flyers. Boudreau called Clark "questionable", but I would be surprised to see him tonight.

The big question, though, is which Caps team will show up tonight? The one that knocked off the Sens twice in a three day span earlier this month, or the mistake-prone squad that went down too easily to the Flyers two days ago?

i dont know whay but im still hugely pissed about that game, it was just too important and thy just gave it away. they flyers didnt score a SINGLE legitimate goal(not total bull$#@!)and they won anyway. COME ON CAPS!!! THIS IS THE SEASON!!

Take everything you read on you-know-who's blog with an extra-large grain of salt. It's clear that he is not above making things up, so it is logical to assume that those who work for him also do the same...

When Tarik tells me Nylander is out, I'll believe it. Until then, it's just internet games to increase webhits.

I give Nyles props for being a tough dude.
Speaking of tough guys, Clarkie's done well against the Sens but I'd rather not see him hurt again. Dude should wait till he's healed completely. We saw what happened when Semin tried to come back too soon from his ankle injury.

I like Nyl a lot lately. If he's playing with pain, I admire him even more.

@GregS (from the previous post): let me rephrase it.. if the Caps go .500 the rest of the season, it will mean no playoffs, but I'll still be mostly happy - but a little disappointed as I think they can do better THIS season.

Anyway, today's going to be so tough - the Sens must be furious. And if they miss some player, the rest of the team will play at their best to compensate for it. Arg!

Even if we revert back to .500 I'd call it a success considering how p1$$ poor they played at the first quarter. My point being that I expect inconsistency due to the age of the team. They'll be prone to making mistakes.

As for the game tonight. I think this will be a barn burner offensive shoot-out a la the game before New Years. 8-6 for example.

Of course McGrattan is going to try and fight Brash - the dude needs to justify his own existence in the NHL. Brian McGrattan sees 2:31 of ice time per game and spends 1:18 per game in the penalty box. McGrattan has as many games with four or more minutes of ice time as with less than one minute (six), including a season low of six seconds against Buffalo on January 4th. And no, that's not a typo.

I'd start Johnson. Even with the days off, Kolzig has started 11 in a row and I think he needs a break.

Alot of people complain about Nylander's skating, his +/-, his unwillingness to shoot the puck. Those people need to shuttie. The man is playing every night thru a lot of pain...most of us stay home from work with a runny nose...he deserves all the credit in the world for playing like he is with a bum shoulder. THAT is heart.
McGratton is in line for another beat-down from Brash...some of the Sens thought he won the last fight...losing your footing and falling on top of your opponent is not a 'win'...Stay tuned for part III tonite.
LETS GO CAPS!!!!!!!

Not sure I agree with you. I'm one of the biggest complainers in terms of 92's +/- and his play of late. Over the last few games I believe he looks a lot better, but I'm not going to give someone a reprieve because he's playing through pain. If you can't perform at the needed level, then don't play. The team as a whole looked phenominal in the games he missed earlier this year.

Not saying he should sit, his play has somehow improved over the last couple of weeks, even with all of the pain. Just pointing out that pain/injuries are not an excuse at the NHL level.

1) Its a guarentee that McGrattan and 'The Donald' will tangle once again. Look for it early on.
2) As for playoff aspirations: The past few years its taken 92 poits to qualify in the East. With 38 games left the Caps would need to go like 24-11-3 the rest of the way or a .632 winning %. Possible, yes, likely, no.

Not using it as an excuse...I'm just saying that it's not easy to play with a tear in your rotator cuff...ever tried it? I have, and it is excrutiating pain. Nylander is gritting it out for the team, and he deserves props--that's all I'm saying. Everybody complained for the last several years that we didn't have a quality center for OV, Semin, etc. Well, now we do, and he gets crucified for his play...probably the sqme people who think Kozlov is an upgrade over Zubrus. Would you rather still have Kris Beech as one of our top-2 centers???

Simmer down now. We know the Caps aren't doing well but last I checked this was on the internet, anyone has the right to post an opinion on here. If you dont agree with it, ignore it.

What the Caps need:

A YOUNG scorer to compliment the ones they have..not old men past their prime

Goaltending..not a prospect thats playing in Russia either. A proven goaltender who has a few years in the NHL under his belt.

Defense...another veteran D man to lead the team on the blueline. Again, not a washed up old D man..at least 5 yrs of proven service in the league. Green is great but someone said the other day they should consider him playing on a wing..BB should try that before the end of the season, see how it works out.

Extras -- A few role playing guys who are going to go out there and give 100% every shift and put at least 10 pucks in the back of the net each year.

clown from philly, the caps were the better team that game and you can lie to yourself all you want, their goals were GARBAGE and you were LUCKY to win. its all good though, i would be worried about the caps in the near future too if i were a flyers fan, that is why youre here right, you worried?. that might be the last game you win aganinst us in a long time. typical scumbag loud angry philly fan who says a lot but has nothing to say. go punch or eat something, isnt that what you do?

I don't care if the goals are garbage or not. They count. The ugly ones are the ones you have to fight to get. That means you're in front of the net, banging and crashing and getting all gnarly. That's the attitude that the Flyers bring to each game and the kind of attitude that is lacking in the Caps without Clark. Brashear seems to be the only one willing to park his happy butt in front of the goalie and take the hits.

Agree with comments although I think what they need the most is a goalie. Isn't Pothier one of those D men that had proven himself up in Ottawa for a couple of years? Isn't Alzer one of those stay home guys? Not sure, that's why I'm asking. He's young, but he seemed to do really well as the Jr. Canadian team Captain - that shows leadership.

No matter who we have, I think we need to get better goaltending. Last year, we have just about 30+ shots every game, this year, we are allowing a lot less. So, that tells me that the D is getting better - or, Laing wasn't on the team last year (which he wasn't). But, the D is improving and we def have scoring power... just need to be consistant. And yes, this includes Semin.

The reason I said they need a proven vet on the blue line is because, although Pothier is good, I dont feel like he has had someone to show him the way. He can be a leader and he can be that stay at home guy that will be consistent, but I think they need someone who has been in these positions before to show the players how to remain focused and play consistent D each and every night.

Did you notice during the last 2 Philly games how a guy like Jason Smith (although much older than what I think the Caps should go after) was always on the blue line with the youngest defense man they have.

I'd like to amend my post after read Greg S's post. They need a guy who will park in front. Not necessarily a tough guy but someone willing to pay the price on the PP and just sit there and not be afraid to take a hit. That only comes with instinct and experience.